David Shapiro: What makes Tulsi Gabbard run? Maybe it’s about the perks

2020 Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard smiles as she is introduced to speak at a meeting with local residents, April 17, in Fairfield, Iowa.

With much local speculation about why Hawaii U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard joined the flock of Democratic long shots running for president, a recent New York Times story posed the question another way: Why not?
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With much local speculation about why Hawaii U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard joined the flock of Democratic long shots running for president, a recent New York Times story posed the question another way: Why not?

In an analysis headlined, “The Many Reasons to Run for President When You Probably Don’t Stand a Chance,” the Times listed rewards other than winning.

These can include bountiful publi­city, new donors, Cabinet positions, book deals, talk TV contracts, lucrative speaking fees
and offers to join prestigious boards.

Or lightning might strike and you luck out like Donald Trump and end up in the Oval Office after joining the race as a branding exercise.

“There’s just absolutely no downside and only upside,” GOP strategist Antonia Ferrier told the Times. “It is an industry of self-promotion. What better way to self-promote than run for president?”

“It gives you a certain stature the rest of your life,” added former candidate Newt Gingrich. “They introduce you, and then they say, ‘… and former presidential candidate!’ It’s not bad.”

The Times’ logic makes it easier to connect the dots
on Gabbard’s laser focus on self-promotion since she
was elected to Congress in 2012.

It’s paid off with some 100 appearances on national TV, and she’s scored her book deal. In the 2016 presidential election, when she was 35, she was already encouraging talk of herself as a vice presidential or cabinet prospect.

She hopes to use the debates as her main showcase, ironic given her persistent refusal to debate her congressional opponents.

The Times’ notion that there’s no downside to a presidential run may depend on how much Gabbard values her House seat, suddenly in play as her treks to hear voter concerns in Iowa, New Hampshire and
California grate on neglected constituents
in Hilo, Kahului and Lihue.

State Sen. Kai Kahele is campaigning hard to unseat her, playing off perceptions that Gabbard thinks herself too big for Hawaii.

“My sole focus is going to be representing (the district) in Congress,” Kahele pledged. “It’s not going to be running across the country and trying to get on the
national news networks.”

He’s raised $250,000 and drawn support from prominent Democrats including three former governors; Gabbard won’t say if she’ll seek reelection if her presidential bid fails.

When Sarah Palin saw herself as having outgrown Alaska after running for vice president in 2008, she resigned as the state’s governor to cash in on TV appearances and speaking fees while keeping her name in the presidential conversation.